Silence
by Loopstagirl
Summary: A blackout of communication is a father's worst nightmare.


_Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights belong to their respective owners._

_I must admit that I just found this sitting on my computer. But I had to get something up around the festive period, so this is what it will be. Happy Christmas, everyone._

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><p>The roar of the engines signalling Thunderbird One's arrival was one of the most welcome sounds that Jeff had ever heard. For too long he felt like he had been sitting in silence, waiting for news that he knew wouldn't make it through the static. He knew full well his sons were more than capable of running a rescue without involving him in the conversations – they often needed to simply react rather than check in with Base about whether it was the right course of action.<p>

But there was a difference between not being involved in the conversations and nothing being able to get through. He knew they were up against the clock with this one, especially as it was a hospital. They would work faster than ever in order to ensure that no one was hurt, not thinking about themselves in the process. Jeff had no idea if they were still there, if something had happened… Until Kyrano mentioned thinking he had heard the mail plane.

When Scott arrived back in the lounge, covered in mud and announcing that his brothers were right behind him, Jeff just smiled and motioned for his son to go and get cleaned up before lunch. But as soon as he had managed to clear the room, Jeff found himself sitting down heavily and resting his head in his hands for a moment. There weren't many times he felt it, but right now was one of them. He felt old. He had no idea how the boys handled the pressure of being out in the accident zone, facing who knows what, when he couldn't even handle sitting at a desk when something wasn't going according to plan.

Thunderbird Two landed just as smoothly considering there was no warning she was coming in and Gordon hurtled straight up the stairs to the shower with simply yelling a greeting over his shoulder. Jeff had to smile at that, forcing himself to pull himself together. There was clearly nothing wrong with his boys and he was simply over-reacting. But while Gordon had gone straight upstairs, Virgil had come to check in. Or to find out if Scott was in the lounge or not. Either way, it meant Jeff was seen as he forced himself to his feet.

"Dad! What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing," Jeff muttered, kicking himself for letting a son see a moment of weakness. He looked up to find a mud-splattered Virgil staring at him, hands on his hips and looking so much like his older brother that Jeff grinned. It only made Virgil look even more alarmed.

"Are you alright?"

"You've been watching Scott tell off the others too many times," Jeff chuckled, hoping that the flush that instantly worked its way across Virgil's face would be enough to get him to back down. But while he instantly changed his position so he didn't resemble his brother quite so much, Virgil didn't head towards the showers either.

"Seriously, Dad. What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Jeff wanted to deny that anything was wrong. He had been a fool being so worried about them; they knew how to handle themselves. But he felt it was a father's right to be concerned when his sons flew into a dangerous situation knowingly. He wasn't so sure, however, that Virgil would understand that and he didn't want the young man to think he didn't believe they could handle the situation.

"I'm fine," he insisted, straightening up and making to tell his son to go and get showered before lunch was ready. Virgil got there first, however.

"Was it the comms being down?" he asked quietly, not seeming to need his father to say anything to get his answer. Virgil crossed the room, resting a hand on Jeff's shoulder.

"It was hell for us too, Dad. But once we realised we could communicate when we were closer together, it wasn't so bad."

"I know. You go and get cleaned up…"

"But that didn't stop you from worrying, did it?" Virgil looked as if he wasn't going to move until he had got to the bottom of it. Jeff gently pushed him away; it wasn't a son's place to worry about his father, not considering it seemed there wasn't anything to worry about.

"C'mon, Dad, tell me."

"Fine," Jeff knew how stubborn Virgil could be, how stubborn all his sons could be. If the young man had got it into his head that he wasn't going to move until Jeff had admitted it, then it was easier just to say it. Virgil had figured it out already, after all. "It scared me, Virgil, okay? Knowing that one of you could be hurt and I wouldn't even know about it. It's bad enough when you are out there anywhere and I can be kept informed and prepare for anything that might be heading our way. But to know that anything could happen and I wouldn't know about it?"

"Brains has been up to Five though, right? He'll figure it out."

"He needs too. What if communications had been problematic the day you were shot down? We wouldn't have been able to get them to stop in time and you've said it yourself you weren't sure if you would have made it if Scott hadn't been talking to you. Our whole operation is based on communication and without that, what good are we?"

"We still saved that hospital."

"At what cost to yourselves?" Jeff knew he was not the only one who had been worrying throughout this operation. Even with Gordon in the cockpit with him, Virgil would have been stressing when he couldn't reach either Scott or Base. Jeff was half surprised that Scott hadn't turned around mid-air, refusing to lead his brothers into a situation that he couldn't contact them in. The relief they must have felt when the radios started working again must have been the same Jeff felt when Scott had landed and reported they were all fine.

Virgil didn't seem to know what else to say and Jeff gave his son a nudge. This time, the young man obediently tripped towards the door. He headed out, clearly going to get a much deserved shower, but paused in the open door, glancing back at his father for another second.

"We're okay, Dad," he said quietly, his voice lined with a promise. "We're all okay."

He disappeared before Jeff could answer, but it was somehow exactly what the father needed to hear. Running a hand through his hair and deciding he should find Kyrano and the coffee again before the boys came down for lunch, he left the room.

With a steaming mug in his hand, food in front of him and his sons squabbling over who got the last piece of pie, Jeff finally found himself beginning to relax. Virgil glanced over at him and the father smiled, nodding his gratitude and signalling that he was okay. Virgil smiled back, but then seemed to realise his distraction was costing him the fight and quickly dived back in to steal Gordon's plate.

As the argument began to get louder and louder, Jeff found himself wondering if there was a way of being able to silence them when they were on the island as well. It would make life a lot more peaceful.

TBTBTB

"Scott!" Virgil's voice was a thundering boom as he stormed towards his brother's room. The boat was saved and a clean-up operation was already underway in order to clean up the oceans and stop something like this from happening again. But Virgil found he didn't particularly care about that, not when he had a brother to sort out.

Virgil thought that might have been one of the hardest rescues he had ever done. Trying to lower John down without being able to see where the boat was, being forced to just hover above while his brothers tried to rouse the crew in order to get them off on time. It hadn't just been strangers lives on the line this time, it had been his family and Virgil had been forced to hover above it all and just wait for the signal. Considering he was usually the one in the middle of things, he hated it. He didn't envy Scott staying on Mobile Control; if that was what his brother went through every rescue, then Virgil didn't know how he did it.

But that wasn't why he wanted a word with his big brother right now.

Not waiting for an answer, Virgil burst into Scott's room. Luckily, the man didn't seem to be doing much, although his words of greeting died in his throat when he caught sight of the look on Virgil's face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, climbing to his feet. Virgil didn't answer verbally, he just grabbed Scott by the collar and slammed him into the wall.

"You are," Virgil snarled. He didn't remember the last time he had felt this angry at the man and he had no intention of leaving until some of that anger had disappeared. Before he truly thought about what he was doing, he had lifted a fist and made to punch his brother. Scott, however, seemed to have seen the action coming for he caught Virgil's hand in an open palm, spun him while bending his arm behind him and gave him a shove so that Virgil stumbled across the room and away from Scott.

"What the hell was that for?" Scott demanded. Virgil spun back around to face him, but knew getting closer wouldn't get him anywhere now.

"Why the hell did you take so long?" Virgil shouted. All the fear from the rescue was beginning to form at the forefront of his mind and he felt alarmingly close to losing it. A rescue had never left him feeling like this before and he wasn't entirely sure how he was supposed to deal with it. "Do you know how many times we tried calling you only to get no response?"

Scott softened, clearly understanding what his brother was talking about. It didn't make Virgil feel any better, but his anger was draining away despite himself. It was exhausting staying this angry.

"Virg…"

"No. No, you don't get to _Virg_ me. I couldn't see a damn thing in that smoke or whatever the hell it was, but the whole of Two trembled when that ship went up. You took off after us and we only just cleared it. And then you didn't answer." He was snarling again now but didn't move as Scott approached him. His brother laid a hand on his shoulder and Virgil instantly shrugged it off. He had been worried about how his father had reacted the first time it happened, but now he knew precisely how the man had felt.

Scott put his hand back, gripping on this time and Virgil simply stared at him.

"You didn't answer," he repeated, his voice soft and low. "I kept calling you and there was just silence. I couldn't see a thing, I had no idea whether you had made it or not."

"I'm sorry, "Scott murmured gently. "I only heard the one call that I answered to, the smoke and the ship going up must have interfered with my radio. I wouldn't do that to you, Virg."

Virgil wanted to stay angry. He had spent quite a while working himself up into this temper, he didn't want to lose it now. But he also knew his brother and believed Scott was telling him the truth. They had been on too many rescues together now for him not to answer. Scott would have known how that felt if he had realised.

"I would have answered you, Virgil," Scott repeated, tightening his grip on his brother's shoulder as he spoke. "I swear it."

"That doesn't stop you from being a jerk," Virgil mumbled, but the heat had left his voice. Now the anger was ebbing away, he was aware of just how much that rescue had taken it out of him. Scott seemed to sense the change and he pushed his brother towards his bed. Virgil fell obediently.

"You could have just said that before trying to punch me," Scott muttered, reproach in his voice. Virgil found that he didn't really care, however. He just offered his brother a sheepish grin before lying back and sighing. The anger had melted away now, exhaustion taking its place. Scott realised a second too late.

"No, Virg, you need to go to your own…"

Virgil didn't care that his big brother was about to tell him to go to his own bed. This would do quite nicely and before Scott could finish, he had fallen asleep across his big brother's bed. All in all, he thought that served Scott right and the man had gotten off quite easily compared to what Virgil had been prepared to do when he had gone looking for Scott.


End file.
